


once in a while

by asterismos



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Ambiguous Slash, Ambiguous/Open Ending, But they're gay trust me, Crushes, F/F, Femslash, First Kiss, Fluff, Fluffy Ending, Girls Kissing, girls holding hands
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-07
Updated: 2017-01-07
Packaged: 2018-09-15 11:22:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,593
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9232823
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/asterismos/pseuds/asterismos
Summary: Annabeth has been ignoring her crush on Piper for over a year. She’s headed to New Rome following her senior year in hopes of a new beginning. This... wasn’t what she was expecting, to say the least, but she’s certainly not complaining.(Cross posted on Tumblr.)





	

**Author's Note:**

> So here's my PJO Secret Santa present for laetan (on Tumblr)! I really do hope you enjoy it, if you're reading here on AO3 (seeing as I have it crossposted). Happy holidays to you and to everyone else who's reading this.
> 
> Enjoy my favorite femslash pairing.

It started when Piper had cupped her cheeks in her hands, speaking nonsense that somehow  _ made sense _ , even though she had been in no state to understand it. She was scared out of her mind, at a loss for the first time in a long time for a solution, and Piper had been there. Just like she always had been, even in the short time she’d known her. It was in that underground temple, searching for the chained god’s heartbeat, panicking and staring into Piper’s eyes that Annabeth realized that she was falling for her best friend.

After that, she had had little time to dwell on her crush, given the circumstances. Between her constant nightmares of Tartarus, the impending battle in Athens, and constantly trying to hold the crew aboard the Argo II together as much as she could by always having a plan, Annabeth didn’t really have the privilege of thinking about it. And that wasn’t even considering the fact that she’d only  _ just _ gotten Percy back and spent almost a month with him literally in hell.

Yeah, a crush had been the last thing on her mind.

But then the war ended. The Romans went back to California. The Greeks stayed in Long Island, of course. Some demigods from one side or the other switched over to explore the opposite camp. Burial shrouds were made for the fallen, and the sparks were sent up to stars with unspoken words of grief. Slowly, everyone went back to their normal routines. Things, for the most part, went back to normal. Annabeth forgot about that little crush.

Almost a year later, it was time for Annabeth and Percy to head to New Rome, finally, to start college. They were both excited and nervous. The only time Annabeth had been to New Rome was for a few hours, just before Leo (possessed by an eidolon) fired on the Senate.  So she was considerably more nervous than Percy and with good reason… But she was expecting good things. It was an entirely new chapter in their lives—a fresh start, a chance at a normal life. Even though they had mutually decided, after a month of undescribable tension and debate, to remain close friends, they were still looking forward to spending college together.

Annabeth was flying to California a few days ahead of Percy. Since he was going to be spending almost a year on the other side of the country willingly, he wanted to spend as much time with his mom, little sister, and Paul before he absolutely  _ had _ to leave. Plus, it was nice to actually be able to take a plane. Percy would’ve resisted right up until the moment they boarded the plane (if they even made it to the terminal).

She took a cab from San Francisco International Airport to the closest she could get to Camp Jupiter’s entrance without stopping on the freeway itself, Sibley Volcanic Regional Preserve. She told the cabbie to drop her off on the shoulder, not far from the freeway exit. He stared at her, bewildered, before pulling over.

“You sure, miss? I could take you closer to the entrance.”

“This is fine,” she replied. “It’s not that far.”

Not even a mile, in reality. But she didn’t want  _ too _ much trouble getting to the entrance. She made her way back to the freeway, cutting through the hills instead of following the street, and reached the Caldecott Tunnel without any problems.

Annabeth took a deep breath, moving to tuck hair behind her ear before realizing it was all up in a ponytail. She sighed and shook her limbs out in a feeble attempt to release her growing nerves. It felt a little pathetic, but this was almost symbolic. It was like a figurative and literal passage to an entirely new life. She had to mentally prepare herself. The entrance wasn’t that far away—she could see the two legionnaires guarding it even from her vantage point—so she could take this moment, just one moment, to ready herself.

But her eyes focused on a third figure as it emerged from the service tunnel. Dressed in denim shorts, Timberland boots, and what  _ appeared _ to be a Camp Half-Blood t-shirt, the figure leaned against the wall of the tunnel. Annabeth couldn’t see what exactly the figure was doing, but it looked like they were talking to the two guards outside of the tunnel. What had caught her eye, however, was the white feather (it could’ve been hair, really, but Annabeth assumed it was a feather) in the person’s hair.

Annabeth’s excitement took over. She broke into a sprint (thank God she was having her luggage shipped later) and raced towards the tunnel. On instinct, the legionnaires raised their weapons but (lucky for Annabeth) Piper noticed her first and told them to hold their fire before taking off towards her.

They met halfway, barely slowing down to hug. Piper picked her up and spun her around in a way that reminded her of girlfriends reuniting at an airport. When she set her down, Annabeth buried her head into her neck, realizing for the first time  _ just _ how much she had missed Piper over the course of the last year. They’d kept in contact, sure, but Iris Messages would never match up to being with someone in person.

Her hair was pulled into a sloppy half-up, half-down with her trademark braid on the side, and it smelled like honey. Her dark skin was warm, like Apollo himself had focused the sun’s glow on her. Annabeth let herself take a step back to admire Piper, for just a second—the way the sun glittered in her irises, the way her lips had fallen open ever-so-slightly, how she seemed to have been put into a trance. She was absolutely breathtaking.

And she still hadn’t said anything.

“I thought you were in LA,” Annabeth said. Stupidly. Instead of “hi,” or “how are you?” or even “I missed you,” which she imagined would’ve been nice to hear. Instead of kissing her, which she so-badly wanted to do. But Piper grinned at her. Piper’s smile was gorgeous.

“I  _ was _ ,” she said in agreement and hooked her in Annabeth’s, tugging her towards the service tunnel. “But I was talking to Reyna the other day, and she happened to mention a certain someone was coming to California today.”

“Oh, really? Who?”

Piper peered over at her, still smiling. Gods, her eyes. Annabeth would’ve given up immortality for those eyes.

“I flew in yesterday from LA. Barely managed to get a flight, but being Tristan McLean’s kid has its perks.”

“As one can probably imagine,” Annabeth replied. They were in the tunnel now. She wasn’t quite sure she wanted to go see Reyna though. Piper may have flown all this way just to see Annabeth (which she had yet to fully process), but she probably had come for other reasons too, like visit Reyna. “Did Jason tag along?”

“Nah. It’s a shame though. Idiot’s missing the great weather.”

“Great weather?” Annabeth said. “It’s too hot!”

“Ah, that’s right. You’ve been in Camp Half-Blood’s perfect weather all summer. Try dealing with LA’s bi weekly heat waves, Annie.  _ Then _ , we can talk about it being ‘too hot.’”

Annabeth laughed and allowed herself a little happiness; she reached down and took Piper’s hand, surprising the daughter of Aphrodite. She could feel Piper’s gaze on her as they continued down the tunnel. They were halfway through it now, not far off from the Little Tiber, she imagined. She intertwined their fingers. Piper squeezed her hand gently—so gently Annabeth had to wonder if it had only been her imagination. But Piper squeezed it again. Annabeth squeezed back. She didn’t want this moment to end.

The exit was just ahead now. She could hear the Little Tiber now, could probably figure out where the tiny rapids originated based on sound alone. Louder than that, she could hear the sounds of camp activity and the lively town of New Rome, mixing together in a unique harmony. Excitement bubbled in her chest.

“Wait,” Piper said, stopping suddenly. Annabeth stopped too and turned to look at her, only to find her walking towards her. Just before their lips met, Piper dropped her hand and cupped her cheeks instead, just as she had over a year prior. Annabeth let her eyes fall shut as Piper’s lips touched hers. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt butterflies, but butterflies felt like an understatement. This was so much more, and so much different, than anything she’d ever felt. It was, simply put, indescribable.

“You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to do that,” Piper murmured when she pulled away, all too soon.

“A little over a year, give or take.”

Piper blinked. “Okay, so you have a  _ general idea _ of how long I’ve wanted to do that.”

“Since that day in Sparta.”

Piper huffed. “Alright, smartass, let’s go before you think you have me all figured out.”

“Wait, wait, wait.”

“Nope. We can kiss a little more once you’re settled in your dorm.”

Annabeth fell silent at that, a little bit from surprise and a little bit from eagerness to make the time between now and then as small as possible because, really, who could argue with that? Annabeth certainly wasn’t going to. So she kept her mouth shut and let Piper drag her towards New Rome, somehow managing to keep her lips off of her—at least until  _ after _ Reyna had walked them to her dorm.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed these two. They're so cute. And gay. 110%.
> 
> Happy holidays, y'all.
> 
> All the love,  
> Cass


End file.
